Safety-stirrup



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ABRAHAM PAWLING, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

SAFETY-STIRRUP.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 4,577, dated June 16, 1846.

To all whom t may concern Be it known that I, ABRAHAM PAWLING, of the city of Philadelphia, in the State of Pennsylvania, have made a new and useful Improvement in the Manner of Constructing Stirrups, which I denominate a spring safety-stirrup, and which is so constructed as toy obviate the danger of the dragging of the rider should he be thrown from his horse; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full and exact description thereof.

My spring stirrup is so constructed that the whole of that side thereof against which the foot would bear in case of the falling of the rider, would be immediately disengaged from the other portion of it, and the person would consequently be freed from its action. The manner in which I effect this will be made obviousl by reference to the accompanying drawing, in which- Figure l is a perspective representation of the stirrup; F ig. 2, a section of it in a plane dividing it into two equal parts through its middle; Fig. 3 the disengaging side shown as removed from the permanent part of the stirrup, and Fig. t a direct view of its under side.

In these figures where the same parts occur, they are designated by the same let-ters of reference.

A, A, is a separate plate that is contained within the side and end bars B, B and B of the bottom part of the stirrup. This plate rests upon wires or small rods a, a, that cross the 'frame B B just under said plate the wire d, serving the purpose of a hinge joint or fulcrum upon which the piece A may work, while the wire cz. serves to sustain it in place when the piece C is removed. The projections b I) on the piece A embrace the wire a and keep it in place.

D is a spring, one end of which is received within a notch or recess at c in one end B of the stirrup frame, its opposite end bearing in a similar notch at Z in the end B, which end makes a part of the detachable side C.

Upon the under side of the piece A, there is a swell or-projection e, and on the detachable piece C, there is a corresponding swell or projection f that serves to interlock with the projection e as seen in Fig. 2; when the piece C is in place, the spring D serves to press and hold them forcibly together. On eachside of the lower end of the piece C, there are pivots g that are received within notches 7L adapted to them in the end of each of the bars B B; and at the upper end of the piece C, there is a tongue z' that enters a corresponding cavity made in the end j of the bow of the stirrup; the pivots g operate as fulcra to the piece C when it is being disengaged from the other parts. The piece A, and the spring D, are held together by a screw, or rivet 7c.

A stirrup formed as above described, will allow the piece C to become disengaged whenever its upper part is drawn off to the distance of about an inch-from the main body; the swell, or projection f, on its lower end being disengaged thereby from its hold on the swell, or project-ion e on the piece A, and the action of the spring D will then tend to force it out, instead of holding it in place. The piece C, after being removed, is readily replaced by passing the tongue z' at its upper end, into the cavity made to receive it,'and pressing its lower part in between the plate A, and the spring D.

I-Iaving thus fully describedr the manner in which I combine and arrange the respective parts of my spring-safety stirrup, I do hereby declare that I do not claim as new the so forming and connecting one side of the bow of a stirrup with the otherparts thereof, as shall vallow it to open for the purpose of disengaging the foot therefrom, this having been before done; but

That I do claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is The manner in which I have effected this object by the combined action of the piece A, the spring D, and the det-achable side C, these parts being formed and operating substantially as herein fully made known.

ABRAHAM PAWLING. fitnesses J. H. MARKLAND, THoMAs D. SMITH. 

